We have our own Sawmill, non-CCA Treatment Plant, Kilns and Planing Sheds

We are the Timber Experts with over 200 years combined experience

About Us

About us

Details

Published: 01 May 2012

Gowan Lea Timbers is an independent, family run timber and building supplies merchant situated on the Sunshine Coast in Southeast QLD.

Gowan Lea Timbers started over 25 years ago when our sawmill at Jandowae in SW QLD decided to open a small retail yard on the rapidly growing Sunshine Coast.

Our mill - Gowan Lea Sawmilling Company - had already been operating for over 40 years and was a very well respected wholesaler of premium quality western QLD Spotted Gum and Ironbark products.

Gowan Lea Timbers started with 2 staff, a forklift, a flat-bed truck and an office in a shipping container but quickly grew and gained a solid reputation as having the best hardwood around! We also started doing a lot of large commercial projects like boardwalks, lookouts and bridges for Council, National Parks etc and slowly increased our product range to include other timber and building lines such as pine framing, plywood, engineered products etc.

In around 2007 the QLD State Government bought out and closed Gowan Lea Sawmilling Company through a Regional Forestry Agreement process which resulted in the rationalisation of many small to medium sized green hardwood mills in southern and western QLD.

This left our retail yard without a supply of the premium hardwood that our business relied upon and sent us in search of an alternate supplier of high quality sawn, structural hardwood to feed our hungry business. Around this time we entered into a very productive relationship with Mary Valley Timbers (a green hardwood sawmill near Gympie) who had a similar focus on quality and cut 95% Spotted Gum and Ironbark.

Gowan Lea continued to grow throughout the building boom of the late 2000's and developed a very loyal following of mostly trade-orientated customers.

In 2010 Gowan Lea Timbers was bought out by Mary Valley Timbers, giving us our own sawmill once again and we haven't looked back.

We continued to grow in the post GFC downturn years with a reinvigorated focus on the 3 pillars of good business - quality, value and service.

In 2013 we added the Lumberjacks Timber Treatment facility at Palmview to the group (opposite Aussie World and the Ettamogah Pub). Lumberjacks specialises in non-CCA, environmentally friendly ACQ / Tan-E hardwood timber treatment methods and has it's own solar / gas kilns.

You'll find our prices are more than competitive, but it will be the quality of our product and our outstanding customer service that will have you coming back for more.

Check out our photo gallery for some yard and mill images.

"It comes down to experience more than anything. Obviously we look for competitive pricing, like most businesses; but more importantly, the company wants suppliers and subcontractors who actually know what they are talking about."

Chris Stevenson, Project Manager, Hutchinson Builders

"Supply time on short contract periods was critical and we found Gowan Lea Timbers worked hard to satisfy the project timing and quality requirements. They also provided a proactive and appropriate response to site issues that arose from time to time through the project."

"The personalised service we receive is particularly important to us as our project managers know that they will talk to the same person every time they ring, and that they can quickly get a response to urgent requests for material or information."